Long-distance cycling: In 2008-9 Mark Swain and his young son Sam cycled 10,000 miles from Ireland to Japan. This blog developed from that trip and now covers all issues related to travel and cycle touring.

What's The Book About?

Aged 50, Mark Swain left his slippers by the fire and set off with his 18 year old son Sam on a cycle expedition from Ireland to Japan. “We’ll train on the way,” he said. Physical challenges, border bureaucracy, health scares and traffic hazards were all anticipated. What they underestimated was the conflict they faced, spending 24 hours a day together under such arduous conditions.

On one level, a life-changing travel adventure, this book also takes time to look at the psychological journey made by parents and children. The accounts of the son’s attempts to break away from his father, to find his own individual place in the world are moving and insightful. Yet at every turn, these thoughts are lightened by humour and juxtaposed with vivid descriptions of the countries and people they encounter along their way. We witness how conflict teaches us things that we did not expect to learn, and how much the parent can learn from the child.

Media Comment

‘If you want to understand the point of adventure and the way it can glue families together, listen to Mark Swain describing his hellish night of suffering half-way through an extraordinary 10,000-mile bike ride to Japan.’ Nicholas Roe, The Telegraph